Chapter 33: A Small Investment

The young cultivator caught Lin Yuan outside the tavern just after breakfast.

"Owner Lin."

Lin Yuan stopped.

The man had arrived the previous evening with two companions from Green River City. Now he held a small wooden box in both hands.

"Do you buy cultivation pills?"

"No."

The cultivator blinked.

"You didn’t even look."

"I don’t sell pills."

"Qiao does."

"Then ask Qiao."

"I did."

Lin Yuan glanced across the road.

Qiao Ren stood in the doorway of his shop, watching them.

Apparently, that conversation had already happened.

"He won’t buy them," the cultivator said.

"Why?"

The box opened.

Six pale green pills rested inside. A faint medicinal smell drifted from them.

"Qi Nourishing Pills."

Lin Yuan knew the name. They were common among Qi Refining cultivators, meant to support cultivation rather than force a breakthrough.

"Where did you get them?"

The cultivator hesitated.

Lin Yuan looked at the box again.

"I wouldn’t buy them either."

"They’re real."

"Then why hesitate?"

"My cousin bought them from a traveling alchemist."

"Why are you selling them?"

"He bought too many."

Lin Yuan waited.

The cultivator avoided his eyes.

"One made him sick."

Lin Yuan turned toward the tavern.

"Only for half a day," the man quickly added.

"No."

"Five stones for all six."

"No."

"Four."

Lin Yuan kept walking.

"Three!"

Qiao called from across the road.

"I wouldn’t take them for free."

The cultivator turned.

"You said you weren’t interested."

"I’m not."

"Then stop ruining the price."

Qiao shrugged.

The cultivator closed the box.

"You people are difficult."

He went back inside the tavern.

Lin Yuan looked across the road.

"Are they really that bad?"

Qiao walked over.

"No idea."

"Helpful."

"Maybe they’re perfectly fine. Maybe they were refined badly. Maybe they were stored badly. Maybe his cousin ate something rotten for breakfast."

Qiao pointed toward the tavern.

"Want to find out?"

"No."

"Neither do I."

Qiao returned to his shop.

Lin Yuan continued toward the kitchen.

But the pale green pills stayed in his thoughts.

Not those particular pills.

Cultivation resources.

That afternoon, Lin Yuan cultivated upstairs.

Spiritual Qi gathered around him as he circulated his inherited technique.

Blackstone’s Faint spiritual environment and the tavern’s Minor Qi Gathering effect couldn’t compare to a sect cultivation ground, but they gave him something he hadn’t possessed when he first arrived.

A stable place to cultivate.

One circulation became another.

Then another.

Since reaching Qi Refining Nine, his cultivation had continued improving steadily.

But reaching the ninth layer and reaching its peak were two very different things.

Nearly two hours passed before Lin Yuan stopped.

He examined the spiritual Qi within his body.

There was progress.

Small, steady progress.

That had never bothered him before.

He had time.

But lately, his circumstances had changed.

Blackstone was earning more.

Merchants were settling beside the road.

Things that once required a trip to Green River City were slowly becoming available closer to home.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

He had spent plenty of spirit stones improving his territory.

Perhaps it was time to see what was available for himself.

Qiao was writing in a ledger when Lin Yuan entered his shop.

He looked up.

"If you’re here for those pills, the answer is still no."

"I don’t want those."

"Good."

"What do you normally sell for cultivation?"

Qiao put down his brush.

"Not much."

Lin Yuan looked around.

Medicine for injuries occupied one shelf.

Talismans hung behind the counter.

There were traveling supplies, beast feed, rope, lamp oil, a few inexpensive artifacts, and other things cultivators might need on the road.

Very little was meant for cultivation itself.

"You’re surrounded by cultivators," Lin Yuan said.

"I’m surrounded by travelers."

Qiao tapped the counter.

"Travelers buy what they need immediately. Wound medicine. Talismans. Supplies."

"Cultivation pills aren’t useful?"

"They’re expensive stock. If nobody buys them, my spirit stones sit on a shelf."

Fair enough.

"What do you have?"

Qiao crouched behind the counter and brought out a small white bottle.

"Qi Nourishing Pills."

Lin Yuan took it.

A paper seal covered the cap.

"Where from?"

"Hundred Herb Hall in Green River City."

"Reliable?"

"Reliable enough that I paid for them."

"How much?"

"Six low-grade spirit stones."

"For the bottle?"

"Five pills."

Lin Yuan turned it in his hand.

"Those pills this morning were cheaper."

Qiao reached for the bottle.

"Go buy those."

Lin Yuan moved it away.

Qiao smiled.

"Thought so."

"How effective are they?"

"Common Qi Refining pills. Don’t expect anything dramatic."

"Have you used them?"

"Same hall, different batch."

"And?"

"They worked."

That answer was more useful.

"Any problem using them at Qi Refining Nine?"

Qiao shook his head.

"Not that I know of."

Lin Yuan continued looking at him.

Qiao sighed.

"I’m a merchant, not an alchemist."

"Finally, something useful."

"I can charge you for that too."

Lin Yuan put the bottle down.

"I’ll ask someone who knows."

"Probably wise."

Qiao picked up his brush again.

Lin Yuan turned to leave.

"Owner Lin."

He looked back.

Qiao tapped the bottle.

"If you want it later, don’t expect me to keep it forever."

"Then sell it."

"Gladly."

Lin Yuan left.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Two days later, a small merchant group arrived from Green River City.

During breakfast, Lin Yuan noticed a familiar white bottle beside one woman’s bowl.

The same seal.

Hundred Herb Hall.

She looked to be in her late twenties, with a sword at her waist and the steady spiritual presence of someone in the later layers of Qi Refining.

Lin Yuan approached after delivering a pot of tea.

"Can I ask you something?"

The woman looked up.

"About?" ℯℯ𝑙.

He pointed toward the bottle.

"Qi Nourishing Pills."

She glanced at it.

"What about them?"

"Are they useful at Qi Refining Nine?"

Her attention returned to him.

"You’re Qi Refining Nine?"

"Yes."

She studied him briefly.

"Useful."

"How useful?"

"Enough that I keep buying them."

That sounded better than a sales pitch.

"How often do you take one?"

"Before cultivating. Then I wait until I’ve refined the medicinal effect before taking another."

"How long?"

"Depends on the cultivator. For me, usually several days."

"Why wait?"

"Taking another too soon mostly wastes the second pill."

Lin Yuan nodded.

"Any problems?"

"With decent pills and reasonable use? I haven’t had any."

She turned the bottle so he could see the seal.

"Hundred Herb Hall has been around for years. Their common pills aren’t special, but they’re consistent."

"That’s enough."

"That’s why I buy them."

"Thank you."

Lin Yuan left her to finish breakfast.

That afternoon, he crossed the road.

Qiao saw him enter.

"The bottle sold."

Lin Yuan stopped.

Qiao kept a straight face for two breaths.

Then he reached beneath the counter and placed the white bottle in front of him.

"Six stones."

Lin Yuan looked at him.

"Very funny."

"I enjoyed it."

Lin Yuan paid.

The bottle remained unopened until night.

After the last customers went upstairs and the tavern became quiet, Lin Yuan returned to his room.

He read the instructions attached to the bottle once more before breaking the seal.

Five pale green pills rested inside.

Their medicinal scent was clean and faint.

Lin Yuan took one.

A slight bitterness spread across his tongue.

He swallowed and began cultivating.

For the first few breaths, nothing changed.

Then warmth slowly spread through his abdomen.

Lin Yuan circulated his technique.

The warmth moved with his spiritual Qi.

During the next circulation, he noticed the difference.

More spiritual Qi entered his meridians.

Not much more.

But enough.

Lin Yuan maintained the same steady rhythm.

One circulation.

Another.

The medicinal power gradually weakened as he refined it.

There was no sudden breakthrough or explosive increase in cultivation.

The pill simply made the session better.

That was enough.

By the time Lin Yuan opened his eyes, the room had grown dark.

He remained seated and examined his cultivation.

The improvement was noticeable.

He picked up the bottle.

Four pills remained.

Five pills for six low-grade spirit stones.

Compared with the larger expenses he’d been considering lately, it was manageable.

More importantly, it was useful now.

Lin Yuan stored the bottle away.

There was no reason to rush through the remaining pills. He could wait until the medicinal effect was fully refined, then use another when it made sense.

He walked to the window.

A few lights remained along the road.

Qiao’s shop was closed.

Duan He’s was quiet.

Several guests were talking near the tavern entrance before heading upstairs.

Lin Yuan thought about the bottle in his storage bag.

A few months ago, buying even a small cultivation resource like this would have meant making the four-day trip to Green River City himself.

This time, he had walked across the road.